Everyone that Hangs on a Tree
by Sedentary Wordsmith
Summary: A collection of unrelated alphabetically-themed drabbles centered on the trials and troubles of the brothers and those closest to them. Chapter 26: In which Ed counts, and forgives, and dies alone. COMPLETE.
1. Answer

Welcome, all! This is a little project I've been working on for fun: an alphabetically-themed collection of FMA drabbles all exactly 100 words long! Yay, fun. Some are happy, some are sad, some are thought-provoking, but I hope you enjoy them all.

Answer.

Ed does not know whose funeral he is at. He does not know why everyone looks so unbearably sad. He does not know why Al is crying so hard when he should be so happy to finally have his body back. He does not know why Winry is crying harder than he has ever seen her cry. Ed asks the nearest person, Lieutenant Hawkeye, who has died, but the stoic woman does not answer.

Ed does not know why the tombstone at the head of the grave has his name on it, and nobody will answer him when he asks.


	2. Birthday

Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed! Oh, I forgot to mention that all these drabbles are completely unrelated. …Even if this one does seem to go right along with Answer…

.Birthday.

"Happy birthday!" Al said, carrying the plate into the dining room and setting it on the table.

"How is it?" Winry asked, following behind him and sticking a few more candles into the pastry. Twenty-five. Twenty-five, this year.

Al cut himself a slice and bit into it, savoring the warm apple taste.

"Is this just the way you made it back then?"

Winry nodded. "Better."

"He loved it back then." Alphonse cut a generous slice of the fresh apple pie and set it on a plate in front of a vacant chair. "I'm sure he would've loved it now, too."


	3. Calendar

Ed sighed as he crossed off the last day in the last month of the year with big black strokes. Another year, come and gone…And they still didn't have their bodies back. He remembered once, what must have been ages ago, promising Al that it would definitely happen "this year!" It hadn't.

"What's wrong?" his big little brother asked, coming to stand beside him.

Ed just ripped the calendar off the wall and clapped his hands. The calendar disappeared with a mini explosion of shredded paper.

"Brother?"

Ed hated calendars. They only ever served to remind him of his failure.


	4. Day

"I think we're surrounded, Brother."

The two boys stood back to back, encircled by their enemies whose slitted purple eyes cried only _death death DEATH! to the Elrics! _They had outlived their purpose.

The smaller of the two only smiled and nudged his brother's back with his elbow. "That's alright, Al. Look around. Look at the sky."

The taller did so. The sky was brilliant bright blue, puffy white clouds floating by on a light breeze. Birds were singing and trees were swaying and all seemed right in the larger world.

"It's a good day to die."

"…It is, Brother."


	5. Evening

Oops, sorry, I've been forgetting the past couple days to update. Christmas and all, and I've been traveling and the internet signal is not consistent. At any rate, Merry Christmas, and please enjoy!

.Evening.

Edward squinted against the setting sun, not bothering to shield his eyes more than that as he stared directly at the sinking orb of fire. He gave a contented sigh as Al came up to stand in front of him, only partially blocking the sun's rays.

"What are you doing, Brother?"

"Just watching the sunset. This is my favorite time of day."

"Oh? Why?"

Looking up at his hulking metal brother this way, squinting and with the blinding sun hitting Al just so, it almost seemed as though the armor were smaller, almost boy-sized.

He smiled slightly. "Just because."


	6. Fever

Ed shivers uncontrollably, unable to keep warm though his body burns. Al wrings out a wet washcloth and tenderly lays it on his brother's forehead.

"Just k-kill me now," Ed groans. "I'm going to die soon anyway, I'm sure of it."

"Don't say that, Brother. You're being overdramatic again. Your fever will break soon and you'll be back to normal in a couple days." There is a pause, then, "Well, there's one bright side to having this metal body," Al tries in a light tone. "At least I'll never get sick."

Al's attempt at cheerfulness only makes Ed burn hotter.


	7. Going

"Hello, young man. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for our train."

"Where are you going?"

"Don't know."

"Then how will you know when you get there?"

"We'll know."

"What are you going for?"

"We have a reason."

"What is it?"

"I can't say."

"You can't say because you won't tell me, or because you don't know?"

"We know."

"So when will you get there?"

"Don't know."

"You don't? Then how will you know once you've arrived?"

"Because we'll be happy again."

"That's a very sad thing to say. I hope you find what you are looking for."

"...We will."


	8. Haircut

Ed raised a heavy hand and combed it through the dull locks of Al's wild mane of hair. Al beamed down at him, and Ed couldn't help smiling back. This was what he had been waiting for. To see Al smile again. The boy was skinny beyond belief, but Ed was sure that Winry's fresh-baked apple pie would remedy that soon enough. For now, though, Ed was content to have his brother there with him in the flesh. Although, there was one thing…

"First things first," Ed said sleepily. "Right after a nap, you're getting a haircut."

Al only laughed.


	9. Inside

Hi, all! Thanks so much for reading this. I hope you're enjoying it, too, but I don't know for sure. A little feedback would be appreciated. I'm not above begging for reviews, though I would like to pretend that I am… Thanks! Please enjoy.

.Inside.

Ed wobbles, but quickly straightens, stomping along dramatically. "You know you shouldn't listen to anything that stupid colonel ever says, right?"

Al ignores the question. "Are you alright? You know you could have gotten court-martialed for attacking—"

Ed waves him off. "I don't care about any of that. You're more important." He stops and earnestly stares up at his hulking metal brother. "You know that it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, right? It's what's on the inside…"

Al knows what his brother means, so he doesn't point out that he is empty on the inside.


	10. Justice

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy it…or if you don't…please leave a review! Thank you! Enjoy.

.Justice.

The two brothers pause on the sidewalk as they see a pair of policemen tackle a runaway purse-snatcher. The officials drag him to his feet and cuff his hands behind his back, returning the purse to its rightful owner.

"It's nice to see the bad guys come to justice, isn't it, Brother?" Al asks, a smile in his tinny voice. "It makes me think everything will be alright."

"Justice?" Ed laughs bitterly. "There is no such thing as justice in this world." He thinks to himself, sometimes, that he is too young to be so cynical, but he still is.


	11. Keep

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop a review, luvs. ;)

.Keep.

Ed always finds his nerves shot before a battle or confrontation with the enemy. He doesn't let anybody else see it, of course, because he is supposed to be the brave, headstrong one who fears nothing and cares only about getting back what he lost. But he always finds himself whispering a prayer under his breath, over and over.

"Keep me safe. Give me strength. Keep me alive one more day. Let me win. Let this be the day it all ends. Keep him safe."

He doesn't know whom he is praying too, though, since he doesn't believe in God.


	12. Lips

Here you go. A little EdxWinry for you all, if you squint and tilt your head to the side. Truth be told, this is about the closest I'm going to get to writing romance. Sad, isn't it? Please enjoy and review. ;)

.Lips.

Ed has always been good at reading lips. He doesn't know why; it is just something that comes naturally to him. He has never told anybody but Al about this special talent, because it has always come in handy, especially in the military around the higher-ups' secrets.

The person whose lips he has always found it easiest to read is Winry, and that is because he spends more time staring at her lips than others'. Right now, though, he cannot read them at all, and they do not seem to be making sense. _Just hold on_? Hold on to what?


	13. Memoir

Hmm…This one seems a bit rushed, but I supposed that's to be expected from a drabble, eh? Still, I think Ed gave in too easily. But please enjoy anyway! And don't forget to drop a review. ;)

.Memoir.

"What is it?" Al queried, looking over the short paper.

"It's my epitaph, of course," Ed answered.

Al looked as horrified as a suit of armor could. "Why?!" he exclaimed.

Ed shrugged. "One has to be prepared in times like these. What if I were to die? Then that stupid colonel would probably get to write my epitaph and there's no telling what he—"

"You're not going to die!"

Ed seemed taken aback, before his entire mien changed. "You're right. Here, let's go." He took the paper from Al and set it aside, out of the way but easily found.


	14. Night

Al was amazed at how quickly the years passed once he could sleep through the nights again. No longer was he alone with just the stars and his dismal thoughts, watching and envying his brother as he slept and dreamt. Al had the most vivid dreams now after his restoration; or perhaps he had just forgotten the power of dreams in his years as an empty suit of armor.

"Hey, come on, Al. Don't sleep your entire life away."

Al simply rolled over and decided, just this once, to ignore his brother. He had been having the most wonderful dream.


	15. Ouroboros

Ed remembered the first time he saw a picture of the snake devouring its own tail: a penciled sketch the size of a six year-old's fist in an alchemy book that would one day burn. Impractical and foolish, he had deemed it. What kind of idiotic creature would expound all its energy on a task that could never be completed and would only end in its own destruction? Surely the serpent knew that this occupation would kill him? Yet still it continued on with single determination, ignoring all else.

Ed scoffed at the foolishness of such a creature. Stupid snake.


	16. Possession

Ed slowly opened his eyes to the waking world, the black tendrils of his nightmare slow to fade. A cool bead of sweat fell down his face to pool in his ear, but he made no move to wipe it away. He wondered if he would have the strength today to rise and face the world one more time. Yesterday he had. The day before, he had not.

His waking world had morphed into a hell worse than his dream realm had ever been, even full of monsters and disfigured family. At least in his nightmares, he still had Al.


	17. Question

Children have a naïve curiosity about them that allows them to ask questions that adults might consider rude or insolent—such as why a relatively young man might have two automail arms.

Despite it being a sensitive subject with adults, Al thinks that Ed likes to answer the question when it is asked by children.

"I lost the first one when I saved my brother's soul," he would always say, holding his right arm up in front of their huge eyes. "And I lost the other one saving his body."

Al can only ever turn his head away in guilt.


	18. Red

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews mean a lot to me, really. Please enjoy this chapter. It's definitely my favorite in this collection…

.Red.

Edward has always liked the color red. "A tough-guy color, to get the blood flowing," he calls it.

The blood is flowing.

Edward likes painting, too. At least, he thinks he might like painting, if he were more creative, and had more free time, and were not so interested in alchemy. But he thinks painting could be fun, relaxing.

It's not fun, but it is relaxing.

Dying is not so bad, Edward thinks. It is just like painting with red. The blood is flowing, and it is relaxing, and he is just painting the ground with his favorite color.


	19. Swimming

Thanks for all the great reviews! I luff them all. Please enjoy.

.Swimming.

Ed glared down at the sparkly, inviting water of the river, remembering childhood days when he and his brother would play for hours to cool off in the middle of Risembool summers. Back then, the water had been a welcome friend. Now, it just seemed taunting.

_"Better not come too close," _Ed could imagine it saying. _"If you fall in, your automail will drown you. If only you didn't have that horrible dragging weight…"_

He decided that on the first day they got their bodies back, he would take Al and go swimming with him, just to spite the river.


	20. Telephone

"Rockbell automail shop, this is Winry Rockbell."

"Winry. It's Al."

Winry nearly dropped her wrench in surprise. Those two? Calling? On the phone? "Al! What are you doing? You never call home! I always told you two to call before you visited, but you never listened to me—"

"Winry."

"—and the only reason you ever call anymore isn't just to say hi; it's always for me to come out and fix something Ed broke, and once in a while I would like for you to call just to talk—"

"Winry."

Something in his voice made her freeze.

"Al? What's wrong?"


	21. Underwater

Thanks for all the lovely reviews, everyone! I really appreciate them and squeal in delight at each one. :D Please enjoy. (Knoes! Only five left!)

.Underwater.

There was a point when Al realized that he had never truly hated his metal body before then. His sensory deprivation and all the things he thought he hated before had only been annoyances. He thought he hated his armor body for those reasons, but he had been wrong. He truly despised his breathless armor when Edward was drowning from the inside and he could do nothing, only push on the unresponsive chest and hope that someone with lungs would come before it was too late. He had no breath to give Edward, and he hated his brother for it.


	22. Viscous

(nervous laugh) I just pumped this one out about two hours ago because it was the last one I had left and I didn't even have a word for it yet and it was due to be posted tonight…! I hope it turned out alright and that you like it.

.Viscous.

The blood pumped slowly from his sluggish heart, winding through his veins, detoured before it could arrive at his extremities, rushing out to meet the open air. The warm liquid cooled rapidly once outside his body and away from his laboring heart, congealing thickly on everything it touched. _(His face, his hair, his neck, his hands, the hands of those around him.) _The crimson flow would not stop as his heart dutifully pounded away, his life force with it. It rose in his throat with a wet gurgle when he tried to speak.

_'Is this what it's like to die?_'


	23. Wish

"Look, Brother! A shooting star!"

Ed's eyes shot up to the sky, just in time to see the fading tail of a dying star.

"Make a wish!" Al hummed to himself as he thought of one.

Ed considered carefully. To have their bodies back…to find the Philosopher's Stone…to never have experimented with Human Transmutation in the first place. For the answer to present itself to them. For their road to not have to be so hard and long.

"I wish…we didn't have to wish on stars."

But he knew that since he said it out loud, it wouldn't come true.


	24. Xanadu

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, or just read and enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this one too. More fluffy brotherly interaction. It kind of seems related to the last one, but it's really not…haha. Enjoy.

.Xanadu.

"Brother, what's your idea of paradise?"

Al lay on his metal back, staring up unhurt at the bright sun. Ed idly plucked the stems of grass between his fingers, not answering.

Al continued. "Mine would be to have things as they were, with mom and our original bodies back…to just be happy and careless again. What do you think?"

Ed spoke slowly around the grass stalk in his mouth. "I think happiness and carelessness is a bit too much for us to ask of the universe."

"Then what's your paradise?"

"…Just to see you smile again. That's all I want."


	25. Youth

Al could do nothing but stare helplessly at Ed as his older brother continued laughing uncontrollably. Finally, Ed stopped, with a hand at his side and a short wince.

"What's so funny this time, Brother?" Al asked patiently.

"Oh, Al. I was just thinking."

"Yes, about what?"

"About those foolish old men who spend their entire lives searching and experimenting and trying to discover the secret to eternal youth."

"Why is that funny?"

"Because we can't even live to see adulthood."

Al's voice was quiet and remorseful. "I don't think that's very funny."

"Oh. I just thought it was ironic…"


	26. Zero

Thanks very much to everyone who has reviewed, faved, alerted, or just read and enjoyed. But especially everyone who reviewed. ;) lolz. So thank you to TruancyCity, iMac15, S.I.R.E. Ruby-san, The Feral Candy Cane, Kame-tan, Sacrificed Alice, Lilly, Moonrise31, and The Ama-ri. I'm glad you all enjoyed reading it, though probably not as much as I enjoyed writing it. Seriously, I love doing these alphabet collections. Everyone else should try one, as well. Well, without further blathering on my part, here's the latest and last installment of Everyone that Hangs on a Tree. Please, do enjoy.

.Zero.

Ed knows the end is near. He thinks he can count down to it. _Five…_ He wishes Al were here so he could tell him something. But no…He is glad that Al is not here. Because then Al would be on the ground with him, counting. _Four…_ He is glad that Al ran when he told him to, though he can't fathom why he actually did, since he never has before. _Three… _Maybe it was the surge of new emotions he hadn't had for years. He knows Al will feel guilty for it later. He has already forgiven him.

…_Two…_

…


End file.
